Portable turntable



May s, 1923.

F. E. MINER PORTABLE TURNTABLE 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. l2 1922 ...mlllll 1 |.II lllllhllww Patented May 8, 1923.

unirse stares,

FRANK n. MINnR; or CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE TURNTABLE.

Applicationled August 12, 1922. Serial'No. 581,397,

tables, and has more particular reference to" a turn table of the portable type, wh1ch,.

while capable of many uses, is particularly adapted for roadfconstruction work.

In the :building of concrete roads, the gravel andcement which are mixed together lwith water ina mixer and delivered therefrom in plastic condition to be spread upon the roadway, are, under modern practice, hauled to the mixer in trucks. Sincethe prepared roadway uponv which the concrete is to be .laid isrelativelynarrow, consider- "done -while the trucks are .still loaded in able diiiiculty isencounte'red and much time is lost by the trucks in turning around on this roadway in front ofthe mixer, particularly in viewof the fact that the turning is order that they may be backed up to the roper position in ront of the mixer and dumped. f

One of the primary purposes of my present invention isto provlde a turntable which may be set at any desired 'distance in Jfront of the mixer upon the roadway, and upon which the loaded trucks are driven, whereupon the turntable is swung throughan 'arc of 180 degrees, turning the truck end for end so that it may then be-backed ol' and un' loaded. y 1 y Another object of my invention isv to pro- ,vide a turntable for` the purpose indicatedl which can be easily operated with a loaded truck thereon, and which, when desired, can be moved forward upon the roadway and can be readily transported from place to place when necessary.

A further purposev is to provide a turntable which will be simple in construction, strong and durable in operation,I one which can be economicallymanufactured and one which will occupy only a portion of the roadway so as to permit the trucks which have discharged their loads to drive away from the mixer alongside the turntable, in-

stead ofover the turntable as is necessary with some now on the market. e

Other objects and advantages of this invention should be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection lwith the accompanying draw-1" in s.

eferringl to the drawings:

rarest @ENCE Fig.` 1 is a plan view of a turntable embodylngy my invention, they position of a. ,i

vtruck thereon being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the turny table and Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1. e

Referring to the drawings more in'detail,

rit will be observed that the turntable body comprises a fwheel mounted frame-consisting or two longitudinally extending side rails or trackmembers and 6 connected togethery atintervals to. form' a rigid constuction by means of a series of cross members7 and the drop 'axle 8. The fron-t is further strengthened by a cross channel member 9, as shown. i

The track members may be of steel construction, if prei-erred, although I have shownfi-or illustrative purposes, a construction. comprising the channel `side ironsll tied by rods 12 to inner wooden'members 13 and between which are disposed heavy` planks lll forming the vtracks proper upon which the wheels of the truck run. To en'- sure aga-inst the truckwheels sliding oir from the track members, l prefer to provide upwardly extending flange members l15 and ,16 disposed preferably at the'inner edge ofl each' track` member.

I The rear axle 8 is shaped as 3 and asupporting wheel 17 is journaledat each end thereof. rlhe upwardly extending extensions 18 on the vaxle serve as strutsor the strengthening tie rods '19 connected at one end to these struts and at their opposite ends to the frame structure.

shown in Fig.r i

The forward endof the4 turntable body y is 'carried by an axle 21 connected :tothe being body by I-beams 22, this axle equipped at each end with' a knuckle 23 upon one arm of which is'mounted a Jfront l wheel 24C. The other arm of each knuckle has a link 25 pivotally connected thereto and for transportationpurposes the inner ends in Figs. 2 and r3.E

may be steeredlike an` automobile by manipulationoffthe lever 27. When, however, the apparatus is in use, the links 25 are disconnected and their inner ends are connected by bolts 28 to the channel member 9 so as to dispose the wheels 2e in the positionsliown in full lines in Fig. l, so that they will travel in an arc about a supporting axis lo- Y cated slightly forwardly of the rear axle, as will-be now described.

A pair ofy heavy cross beams 31 extend transversely of the frame structure` just forwardlyy of the Arear axle'and carry a down` wardly projecting round headed swivel bolt 32, best shown in ,F-ig. 3. rllhe round lower end of this bolt or pin engages in a socket formed in :a block 33,v the pin being` held against withdrawal from this socket by retaining plates 34 securely bolted to the block. The block is supported by wedges 35 driven beneath the same a suiiicient distance to lift the wheels 17 clear of the roadway, as shown When the turntable has been moved to the desired position, the wedges are driven under the'block 33 to lift .the rear wheels 17 clear of ythe ground, and the front wheels are disconnected from each other and turned into the position shown in fullv lines in Fig. l, in which position they are secured by fastening the links 25 to the member 9 by the pins 28 as previously explained. The rear i endxof the turntable is now disposed away from the mixer in position to receive a loaded truck. The 'truck is then driven onto the turntable and as the wheels travel onto the rear end of the turntable tracks, the forward end of theturntable may be lifted slightly from the ground, which, however, will do no harm.' The truck is driven onto the turntable until its front wheels abut against a stop member 36, whereupon the brakes will f beset to retain the truck in position. l W'hen properly positioned on the turntable, rthe center of gravity of the truck is disposed substantially over the swivel pin 32 so that practicallythe entire weight of the turntable as well as 'the truck, is carried by the block 33 leaving but little weight upon the front wheels'21l. The front end of the turntable may then be pushed laterally by hand,.turning the same upon the pin 32 as an axis, the

vwheels 24C, by reason of their position, traveling in an arc about this pin as acent'er.

Whent'he turntable and lthe truck thereon have been turned 4through an are of 180 de-v,

grees, the truck may be backed oil'` the turntable toward the mixer where it will vbe dumped. ed, it may be driven away from the mixer alongside. the turntable which, when dis'- posed endwisey upon the roadway, occupies less than half of the'` roadway. The/turntable is then swung back into receiving po- After the truck has been unload-l sition for the next truck ,and ythe operation is repeated for each truck. to be unloaded.

During the turning operation, the rear wheelsl are normally clear of the roadway, but if the turntable should tilt laterally upon its pivot pin, such tilting movement will be limited by the engagement on that side of the apparatus of the rear wheel with the roadway, whereby the apparatus is prevented from tippinglover.,

It is believed that. my invention,its construction and` mode of operation, and many of its advantages will be ,understood from. the foregoing' withoutfurther description, and while l have shown and described a preferred embodiment thereofpobviously the .details of construction may be varied within wide limits 'without departing fromthe scope of the invention as defined in the following.v

stantial parallelism for transportationpurg poses Aand to be positionedto travel in an are about said Apivotal vsupport as acenter for turning purposes.

ln a portable turntable, the combination of a frame provided with tracks adapt` ed `to receive atruck, rear transport wheels mounted on said frame, means whereby said frame may be pivotally supported with said wheels clear ofthe ground, front wheels pivotally vconnected to kthe forward end of the frame, and means for locking said front wheelsY in position to travel in an are about said pivotal support.

3. in La portable turntable, the combination of a frame provided with-"truck.receiv-l ing track rails, a pair of carrying wheels pivotally conneote'd with the forward endfof i' saidv frame, meansy for 'pivotallyy 'supporting said frame intermediate its ,ends sothat the frame may be swung"horizontallyy about said supporting` means, and rear carrying wheels" mounted on said frame and 'up'o'niwhich the lil@ lll@

frame'may be transported, said reanea'rry-y ing wheels and said pivotal supporting f pivotal'supporting means cbnnecte'd withyg the frame, meanswhereby 'theg frame` may be lifted and 'supportechupon said supporting.. means vwith' saidwheels "clear of the ground,

and a'plurality wheelsg'lpivot'ed onsaid frame.

5. In av portable turntable, the combination of a frame adapted to receive a loaded truck, rear transport Wheels therefor, means for raising and pivotally supportingV said frame with said Wheels clear of the ground, and front supporting Wheels pivotally connected to the frame, said front Wheels being adapted to travel in an arc aboutsaidpivotal support for turning purposes and to be disposed in parallelism for transport purposes.

6. In a portable turntable, the combina-v tion of a frame adapted to receive a loaded truck, rear transport Wheels mounted on said frame, an axial support for said frame adapted to take the Weight 0E said rear transport Wheels and aboutvvhich therame` may be swung for vturning purposes, and front vWheels pivoted to said frame and adapted to'travel in an arc about said axial 'l support.

Wheels upon which saidframe may be transported, and means independent of the rear transport Wheels for pivotally supporting said frame so as' to permit swinging movements thereof about aV vertical axis, said front Wheels being adapted. to travel in an are about said axis as a center. i i

FRANKE.,Minnaf l, 

